


Into The Fire

by CrystalRebellion



Category: Voltron: Lion Force (1984)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Cultural Differences, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Learning to trust, Lesser of two evils, consent is important, enemy of my enemy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-26 02:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20036605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalRebellion/pseuds/CrystalRebellion
Summary: When Allura finds herself pinned between a literal rock and a hard place when her guardians make plans for an arranged wedding to a prince she's never met, Allura decides in a moment of desperation to counter with the only option she can think of: approaching the one person who has openly promised her both wedding vows and protection for her people.  As Lotor begins to realize there is so much more to the situation than mere control and possession, Allura combats strange, otherwise unknown desires she had never felt before as she seeks refuge and protection from a situation and person she never dreamed possible. (Lotura) (DotU)





	Into The Fire

Allura’s heart felt like ice and she couldn’t lift her palms from her lap without them trembling violently. An unpleasant discomfort had settled over the Castle of Lions. It had been hours since the chaos had erupted, and in its wake an eerie, somber silence echoed.

As the last of her energy left her body, Allura pitched sideways without warning, collapsing against her mattress dully. Watery eyes still focused listlessly on the closed door to her bedchamber. Tear streaks had long-dried on her cheeks, her throat hoarse from uncontrolled sobs.

Anger had been her first response to the bleak news. Fury that her guardians would even entertain such an offer and betray her trust. Panic had quickly overtaken her when she realized Coran had no intention on shifting his opinion. Insults and curses had faded into pleas and begging. As Coran had left her alone in her room, sorrow had ravaged her until she lay exhausted and despondent, numb after the cacophony of emotions.

And utterly _ engaged. _

Her eyes draped closed with an exhale from her lips.

* * *

_ “Princess, it is for the best,” Coran said. “Surely you must understand.” _

_ “Coran! It most certainly is not for the best -- I don’t even know who this person is! This is ridiculous.” _

_ “Arus needs an heir, and it’s time you stepped out of that lion of yours and took a husband.” _

_ “Perhaps in time, but it will be someone that I love, and the middle of a war is not the right time for that sort of thing.” _

_ “Princess, please,” Coran murmured, his voice stern but soft. “Prince Daylin will make a fine husband for you. He comes from a strong family of diplomats and trade magistrates. His planet is quite wealthy and would make a suitable alliance to Arus.” _

_ Allura’s heart hiccuped as she realized how serious Coran was. _

_ “But… Coran, I don’t know anything about this man! I don’t -- you cannot possibly match me to someone I’ve never met!” _

_ “The arrangements are already in place. He is a gentleman and will treat you properly.” _

_ “Coran, no! How -- how can arrangements be in place already? I’ve only just now learned of it!” _

_ “We - Nanny and I, felt it best to make sure everything was already set in motion before advising you of it. He will make a fine king, and a union between planets will make Arus more stable.” _

_ “ _ ** _Coran!_ ** _ ” _

_ His face remained impassive as Allura’s warped in horror. _

_ “I forbid this!” _

_ “He will arrive in a week’s time and we will hold a proper wedding ceremony,” he replied definitively. _

_ “How long have you been planning this?” _

_ “We reached out to Prince Daylin’s planet nearly a year ago.” _

_“You’ve been conspiring against me this entire time!”_

_ “Not conspiring, simply looking out for your well-being. With all this war and battle business, it became clear to us you had little intention of settling down.” _

_ “I am both a princess and a pilot,” she affirmed, though her words vibrated with uncertainty. _

_ “And in a week you will be a queen.” _

_ “Coran, no,” she whispered. “Please don’t put me through this. Please!” _

_ “We’ll find a nice young man from the village nearby and train him well. He can take your place in Blue Lion. With a king and a queen, Arus will become more secure. Prince Daylin’s planet has already pledged themselves to help in the defense against Lotor. It is all done, already.” _

_ Allura watched as Coran dismissed her protests, and instead turned to leave her suite. _

_ The automatic door hadn’t finished closing behind him when she burst out in angry sobs, a panic unlike any she had ever experienced before thrumming through her. _

_ What could she do? Part of her desperately wanted to flee, but what of her people? The hopelessness of the situation closed in on her like a suffocating grasp. _

* * *

Allura’s eyes opened slowly, a dangerous, death-like sensation curling in her chest. Her eyes flickered around her empty room.

Empty. Like her chest.

Lost. Like her courage.

She wondered vaguely if Keith had known about the plans - perhaps he had even been the one to suggest an alternative pilot… or perhaps he had fought Coran to keep her on his team. Perhaps he didn’t even yet know at all.

Her brow twitched and her lips felt dry.

Allura’s eyes slid across the room to the door that yielded her bath. As desirable as a hot soak would feel on her exhausted body, she didn’t have the energy or strength to press up from the mattress.

She wished the bed would just swallow her, consume what was left of her soul so that she would not have to face the terrifying reality her ‘protectors’ had placed her in.

“Perhaps this is simply my duty,” she murmured in resignation, her voice cracking slightly even with her soft tone.

_ Who knows, _ she thought dryly. _ A week is more than enough time for Zarkon to do something terrible. Or Lotor. _

Allura blinked and for the first time a strange, hopeful sensation fluttered in her chest. It was small and feeble, but it was _ there. _

Did she dare?

Allura bit down on her bottom lip nervously, terrified by the prospect before her.

* * *

Lotor paced back and forth in his command room. His arms folded across his chest in concern. Haggar had been away far, far too long for the plan to have gone as smoothly as he hoped.

Just as he was about to go after the witch and check on progress, the door opened and she appeared.

“Well, witch? Did it-”

He trailed off as Zarkon appeared behind the woman.

“So, my incompetent son has tried to poison me. Pity you can’t even do that right. Did you think that a drop in a chalice would be enough to bring me down?”

“Father, I can explain!”

“Useless - you’re useless! I don’t care for your excuses. You will never end my reign, you fool.”

Lotor grumbled, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he held his tongue.

“I only wanted to be evil,” he protested.

“And you can’t even do that right. Sending the witch to check to see if I’d had the drink you so _ thoughtfully _ laced with Moonvenom,” he rolled his eyes. “If you had sent that to Arus instead, we’d be a hell of a lot closer to being rid of Voltron.”

Lotor’s face went completely neutral, an impassive shield at the mention of sending poison to Allura’s planet.

“Get them out of the way,” Zarkon continued. “You get one last chance - or I’m leaving _ you _ in the pit of skulls.”

With the threat hanging heavy in the air, Zarkon turned and left the room, leaving an uneasy prince behind him.

“Sire? What’s your plan?”

With a weariness he rarely showed, he slumped down into command chair, his palm cradling his face.

“Get Cossack,” he instructed after a moment. Without a word, Haggar turned and left to carry out his request.

The ultimatum he had been dreading had finally dropped into his lap. There would be no more pulled punches on Arus, no more setting up an invasion just to let Voltron win. He had run out of ways to keep Allura from his father, and it seemed as though the only reasonable option left would be a coupe. 

And yet, for all his attempts at that, he had still failed.

The door whirred open as the witch returned with the commander. Cossack stopped at the melancholic look on Lotor’s face.

“We goin’ to Arus?”

“No,” he answered, surprising Haggar.

“What’s our plan then?”

“Still working on that,” he replied tartly, raising his face from his hand, only to cradle his chin thoughtfully. On the screen before them, an image of the beautiful planet glittered.

“Maybe you could try talking to the princess again?” The commander’s suggestion earned him a scoff from Haggar.

“I mean it,” he protested with a whine. “You could even-”

Cossack froze and blinked at something on the console before him.

“What is it?”

Lotor glanced his way over his shoulder just in time to catch the Drule’s perplexed expression rise to meet his own.

Cossack swallowed.

“You could even do it now,” he murmured quietly.

Lotor’s brow creased in confusion and he pressed up from his chair, stalking toward his companions.

“What are you talking about?”

“Sire… we’re getting a hail. ...From Arus.”

"What? _ The Princess _?" Lotor's eyes widened in shock and he covered the distance to the console quickly. Cossack only shrugged in response. He was just as baffled by the strange call as his master was.

“Leave me," Lotor instructed, his gaze roaming the reading before him, confirming Cossack’s assessment. "I wish to be alone with her."

“Could also be one of the pilots-”

“Leave,” he commanded sharply, unable to curtail his anxiety and excitement at the strange turn of events.

Cossack saluted and quickly departed the command center alongside Haggar. Lotor waited apprehensively for the call to connect. _ Why would she call? _ He hadn't staged an invasion recently. He'd done little of consequence to earn her wrath - his attention had been wholly focused on dealing with his father. What could she possibly be angry enough over to-

The hail connected, and his breath caught. He waited. When only silence met him, he prodded the audio-only feed.

"Allura?"

A soft, strangled sort of noise answered, followed by a sharp intake of breath. A low, calming exhale sounded before a soft, trembling whisper finally answered.

"...did... did you mean it? That day on the bridge... About... about protecting my people?"

Silence.

“What the hell?”

He couldn’t stop the shock that poured from his lips, and he instantly regretted the compulsory curse. Within seconds the woman was in tears, unable to articulate further.

“Allura,” he began in an attempt to regain control of the conversation. He cursed when she abruptly ended the transmission, and he was quick to hail the frequency she had called from.

It rang twice, and on the third signal, he began to doubt she would answer, after all. What he didn’t expect was the video feed to flash on his screen in addition to audio.

An _ extremely _ tense Princess sat at what appeared to be a communication station inside - not the Main Control Room as he was used to seeing - but her private quarters instead. 

His brow creased and he stepped toward the large screen at the strange sight before him.

Allura’s shoulders were hunched up; she appeared to be wrapped in some pink robe, the long sleeves covering her balled fists tucked securely under the fabric. Her hair was down and disheveled, and her eyes appeared pink and on the brink of shedding tears.

She sniffed, her gaze averted from the screen, unable to look at him.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I thought I had better control of myself.”

“What’s happened? Has someone hurt you?” His eyes roamed what he could see of her, and though he could find no trace of injury, something was clearly _ wrong _.

Her long sleeves wrung together as she twisted her hidden fingers.

“I want to know if you meant that,” she said hesitantly, avoiding his question and further alarming the warlord. Her voice was soft and without warning, her eyes flickered off to the side.

Her nervous expression hardened into a dangerous one and without warning she pressed up from her seated position and walked off screen. In the background, he could hear her telling someone to leave her alone and refusing to unlock the door.

In an irritated huff, the pink-robed princess plopped back down, ignoring the soft demands from the other side of the door. Her frustrated expression softened immediately back into one of discomfort and what looked like outright fear.

“I wasn’t certain if he would just barge in and ignore my wishes,” she explained quietly. “But… yes. I’d… I’d like to know more.”

“Are you in danger?”

Her averted gaze snapped to the control screen and she blinked in surprise at the question. Lotor’s heart hitched when she didn’t immediately respond. He was practically out the door, lazon saber in tow, when she spoke again.

“I don’t think so.”

“What’s going on?” His voice raised in volume, growing more frustrated with the evasive and clearly distressed princess.

Her lips pursed together.

“At the Chozzerai River. You said you would help me and my people. Was that true?”

“Are you accepting my offer, my dear?”

“Lotor,” she breathed in exasperation, her prior panic seeming to meld into more familiar frustration. “I need more clarification before I answer that.”

Lotor stilled abruptly - he hadn’t actually had any faith the princess was truly considering his offer.

“That was nearly a year ago, Allura,” he murmured sincerely, staring at her in open wonderment when she angrily rubbed her eyes on her sleeve. Another sniff and she was scowling at him in response.

His heart spasmed; everything was so out of character for her, from the fright she openly displayed at a yet-unknown enemy to the fact _ she _ initiated contact with _ him. _

Lotor exhaled, recognizing the stubborn streak in the princess that stole his fascination so.

“Yes,” he answered her at last. She blinked in surprise, the crystal-like teardrops budding at the corners of her eyes dissipating.

“W...what?”

Allura’s palm clasped over her mouth when she felt her bottom lip tremble.

“I will help you protect your planet and your people. I meant it then, and I mean it now. Now, what is going on?”

Golden eyes hardened as he pressed her for information in her seemingly dire situation.

“I can’t tell you here,” she whispered, shaking her head once. A growl of frustration reverberated from his chest.

“Come to me, my sweet, we can discuss-” He trailed off at the wild look she tossed him in response.

“No, not there. Not near _ him. _”

He jaw tightened in frustration, and Allura’s fear softened slightly.

“There’s a rest station about halfway between our planets. It’s in neutral territory. I can meet you there to speak in person. No guards,” she said tensely, not entirely trusting the brutal warlord to not simply abscond with her.

“No Space Explorers,” he countered.

Allura waffled on it, uneasy about the decision she was making, but the idea of being promised off to a man she had never met somehow seemed a far worse fate than dealing with Prince Lotor. At least he was a _ known _ evil.

“Understood,” she murmured, drying the last of her tears. “Now?”

“Absolutely,” he nearly growled; frustrated he still had no idea what had upset the Arusian enough to drive her to such unusual extremes. She nodded to him.

“Very well, I’ll change and be on my way. ...I won’t be in Blue Lion, though - it’ll be a personal craft.”

“I’ll be in mine; no warships or crew.”

He could’ve sworn the faintest trace of relief spanned her expression.

“...thank you for hearing me out,” she said before cutting the feed. Lotor continued to stare numbly at the blank screen before him, completely blindsided and baffled by the strange development.

Reaching for his helm, he burst from the control room to the hangar, his heart hammering in his chest.

_ Is she ill? Is she _ ** _dying?_ ** His mind ran in a million different directions as he struggled to understand the volatile woman’s sudden change in behavior. He grumbled to himself, realizing he would have no answers until he had her in front of him.

“Stars above, Allura,” he cursed softly to himself. “What’s happened?”

* * *

He made the mistake of bursting through the doors with more force than necessary. As the entry slammed open, all eyes in the room focused on him. It was a dimly lit room, not unsavory, but definitely a mix of races lingered about, many wide-eyed to see the Crown Prince of the Drule Empire himself.

All patrons hovering over tables or settled into private booths looked up immediately, an uneasy tension settled over the room. While the tavern-like rest station was designed as a stop over for weary travelers, coupled with rooms for rent and warm meals and liquor for purchase, it was unusual to see a Drule in the heart of the neutral territory. His people were not known for merely dropping in to catch their breaths.

Lotor found her in a heartbeat.

Nervous conversation picked back up as he strolled forward, winding his way around the tables to the plush booth nestled in the back corner. A slender figure was draped in a sapphire-colored cloak, cowled from head to toe. 

He could find her in a crowded room of masked people. He could find her in a dark room by her scent alone. There was no one particular identifier that he required, she was simply _ her _ and there was no other that she could be mistaken for. It didn’t matter that while the entire room looked his way, she merely pulled the cowl lower over her face in response.

The cloaked figure recoiled further into herself as he eased himself down across from her, his knees brushing hers beneath the small table.

“Allura.”

Her shoulders trembled slightly before the hem of the cloak lifted and wild, frightened eyes flickered over him before glancing discreetly around the room.

“You’re alone,” she murmured, as if she didn’t believe it herself.

“I am. Now, what-”

She flinched back, leaning away into the plush padding of her own chair.

Alarm rolled through his chest and he sat tense, staring at the doe-like expression on her pale features. Fright was not an expression he was unused to seeing on the princess, but for the first time it appeared to be directed at something other than himself.

She exhaled deeply, bowing her head slightly.

“Am I really about to do this?”

His eyes widened at the whisper to herself.

“Allura, my-”

“Please, don’t,” she said, holding up her hand. Lotor’s serpentine eyes quickly narrowed on how her delicate digits trembled slightly. “I don’t think I can handle more of that right now.”

A somber seriousness settled over him.

“What’s happened,” he queried softly, all call of bravado lost.

Allura returned her hand to her lap and exhaled once more before raising her eyes to meet his again. He watched in horror as their watery depths locked on his. A second of silence beat between them before she utterly _ shattered _ before him.

It took the better part of thirty minutes for him to coax the story of what atrocity her guardians had in store for her between her sobs.

He found himself sitting silently across from the trembling woman, her emotions finally brought under some manner of control, her shaking palm over her lips as she stared off to the side.

Allura’s prior questions about his promise to her and her planet suddenly clicked into place -- she was considering his proposal, after all. Despite it being the thing he sought above all else; Arus, his father’s throne, riches and worlds beyond - he felt no victory in the moment.

The princess’s hair was rough and disheveled, her skin far too translucent beneath the jewel tone of the cloak over her.

“You’re considering my offer,” he finally articulated aloud, coaxing a flinch from the petrified woman. Her teeth bit down sharply on her bottom lip and for a brief moment he worried she might draw her own blood.

A listless shrug, and her shaky voice replied in whisper, not daring to meet his gaze.

“...At least I have a small assurance from you I won’t find myself assassinated.”

“By the gods, I would never-”

He froze when her eyes flashed to his and the slightest hint of a wan smile at the edges of her lips.

“Perhaps an exaggeration, but I know nothing of this other man,” she admitted weakly. “If this it to be my fate then… I suppose I hoped to secure at a cease fire for Arus. ...It seemed… ...the most practical solution,” she added quietly.

Lotor’s eyes narrowed on her demure profile.

“So you mean to take me as your husband to avoid this otherwise unknown man?”

She hesitated, swallowing tensely before responding.

“Yes.”

He pressed her further, testing for some manner of jest or trap.

“You intend to unite our planets, to evade being promised to another man.”

She inhaled deeply and nodded again.

“Yes.”

Lotor braced his elbows on the table and leaned closer to her, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“And you’re willing to take the son of Zarkon to your bed to save your people?”

If Allura had been pale before, she was positively sheet-white at his phrase. Her eyes slid to his and despite the marked terror on her face, her expression was impressively fierce. 

“If necessary, _ yes, _” she answered with more resolution than either thought possible.

He leaned back, awed by her fortitude.

“Very well.”

Allura’s eyes popped wide and she stared at him openly for a moment.

“What?”

“I accept your proposal,” he replied, a lethal grin stretching across his lips.

Allura swallowed, her heart fluttering in her chest.

“...Wonderful,” she whispered, neither of them certain if she were sincere or sarcastic. Perhaps both.


End file.
